In the dim and cramped storage area, Lin Jinran gradually came to her senses. Looking down, she saw the man tightly gripping her wrist. Suddenly, her eyes welled up with tears, and scalding drops fell, burning her arm.
They had shared the passionate, mundane, splendid, and grand senior year in high school together. At that time, the sound of reading filled the air, and their youth was full of recklessness and romance. They never thought the future would be so far away.
It seemed that as long as they grasped their grades, they could hold a corner of the future.
The 18 - year - old Lin Jinran was full of yearning, even fantasizing about everything in the future.
It was the grand farewell on a long - cicada - singing summer day, the involuntary flutter of her heart, and the high - spiritedness of the future.
But all of this had changed.
The gears of fate had quietly started turning from the second semester of senior year.
Actually, she had a really happy time in the first semester.
She had a group of loyal friends, a visible future, and a cautious and devoted young man by her side.
Another scalding tear fell on the man's arm.
As if he had been burned and startled, he quickly let go of her wrist.
"Don't act like this for my sake," Su Qinian sneered, but then took out a tissue and handed it to her. His tone remained cold. "Wipe your tears. Don't ruin your makeup during the fashion show."
Lin Jinran didn't say a word. She silently took the tissue and wiped the corners of her eyes.
"Lin Jinran, you still owe me an explanation from back then. Why did you run away in a hurry after the college entrance examination?"
His voice was low and soft, carrying a kind of suppressed and cold interrogation.
Su Qinian was referring to the time after the college entrance examination when, in front of everyone, he confessed his love to her. Lin Jinran neither accepted nor explained. She just left.
Over the years, Su Qinian had been brooding over this and couldn't let it go.
Lin Jinran let out a tired sigh and said casually, "It's all in the past. Let it go. Do you want to live in the past forever? Su Qinian, we're no longer who we were back then."
The fingers hanging by her waist unconsciously curled up, as if stung by an unknown insect. The pain slowly spread from the wound all the way to her heart.
Her heart ached, but she could bear it and still hold on.
It's okay, it's okay, she comforted herself in her heart.
"But you still owe me an explanation. Why, why did you leave and run away? Did you pretend to be in love with me during senior year?
"Do you think I'm a big joke and easy to deceive? Right? You used me to solve your study problems, got into a good university, and then left without saying goodbye. Right? Say something, is that it, Lin Jinran?"
The man got closer and closer. Lin Jinran's back was already against the cold wall, with nowhere to retreat.
She opened her eyes wide and watched helplessly as the man's thin lips approached. His warm breath sprayed on her face, making her skin tremble.
"Don't... don't..." She tried to push the man away, but it was useless. She was forced to watch him get closer and closer.
Then, his thin lips brushed past her cheek and landed on her ear.
"Lin Jinran, can't you just give me an explanation... Where did you go back then? I looked for you for a long, long time but couldn't find you anywhere."
The skin he had brushed against still retained the warmth of his lips, faint and gentle. It was as if a brand had been left in her heart.
She was stunned and heard the man's helpless and aggrieved sigh.
Soon, Su Qinian changed his tone and sneered darkly.
"After the university semester started, I didn't see your name on the official admission list of Peking University. You didn't even plan to apply to Peking University just to stay away from me. And don't you want to continue using me to get a postgraduate recommendation in college?
"A senior - year deskmate is so useful. Why didn't you keep using me in college?"
Her heart ached terribly, as if countless ants were gnawing at it without restraint. She was in so much pain that she could hardly breathe.
Lin Jinran lowered her eyelids and looked down at the man slightly.
She met his deep, bottomless eyes, which were filled with sadness and grievance.
"No, it's not like that..." she whispered softly, trying to explain something.
She searched her mind but found the story too long and too far away.
She didn't know where to start.
Vaguely, she seemed to remember.
She had gone to look for Su Qinian in college. When she saw him walking side by side with another girl, she knew that everything was over.
She had come back too late.
"Then what is it? Tell me," Su Qinian demanded.
Lin Jinran fell silent.
"I couldn't find you in the vast sea of people. After being discovered by a talent scout, I thought I had to enter the entertainment industry, try my best to become famous, and let the whole nation talk about me. My dramas were on TV, and my co - branded posters were in shopping malls.
"Only in this way could you see me at a glance and find me through my agent. I even asked my agent to keep an eye out for a girl named 'Lin Jinran'. For several years, there was no news at all.
"But do you know? A few months ago, my agent suddenly told me that there was a famous actress named 'Lin Jinran' attending today's film festival and showed me your photo.
"I thought it was just a coincidence of the same name. But when he showed me the photo, I realized it was really you. You and I are both in the industry, and you've always known where I am. But you're so heartless. You never contacted me!"
So... this was the reason why Su Qinian had come to this film festival.
Lin Jinran's eyes welled up with tears again. She didn't know why, within less than ten minutes, she felt an increasingly strong urge to cry.
The words from the man in front of her were so heart - wrenching.
"Lin Jinran, did you ever like me back then..."
This question that had troubled him for years finally had a chance to be asked by Su Qinian at this moment.
"Yes, I did like you," Lin Jinran looked up at the black ceiling, trying hard not to let the tears in her eyes fall.
"Then why didn't you come to find me? I've been waiting for you for so many years," the man asked stubbornly.
She had looked for him, but it was in college.
"Su Qinian, you're not who you were back then, and I'm not who I was either. What's the point of asking these questions?"
"Let it go. Let yourself go, and let me go, okay?"
Lin Jinran's voice was very soft, with a barely noticeable tremor, as if a very thin thread was swaying in the wind.